Zaireichthys rotundiceps

Zaireichthys sp., an amphiliid catfish;
an inquiline found with the cichlid Maylandia livingstonii
in Lanistes snail shells in Lake Malawi;
photo by W. E. Burgess, used by permission of T.F.H. Publications

Zaireichthys rotundiceps, an amphiliid catfish;
either this species or a near relative is
found in Lake Malawi; illustration from Jubb (1967), used by
permission of A. A. Balkema Publishers
A small amphiliid catfish, formerly placed in the genus Leptoglanis but currently (Snoeks, 2004b) classified in the genus Zaireichthys, lives as an inquiline or "house guest" with the cichlid Maylandia livingstonii in the empty shells of dead Lanistes nyasanus snails on sandy shores of Lake Malawi (top photograph above). This catfish, possibly a Lake Malawi endemic, is currently thought to be a member of the Zaireichthys rotundiceps species complex and has been designated Zaireichthys sp. 3 (Snoeks, 2004b, who misspells the genus 'Zaireichtys'). Z. rotundiceps itself, the "Spotted sand catlet," is shown in the lower illustration above. A comparison of the two illustrations shows that, although the fish in the photo is much smaller (as seen by the relatively large eye and short snout and the transparency of the body), both fishes share very similar pigmentation patterns. There is one additional nomenclatural complication: it is controversial if Zaireichthys and Leptoglanis belong in the family Amphiliidae or the family Bagridae.

Zaireichthys cf. dorae, an amphiliid catfish resembling
a species
found in Lake Malawi; illustration from Skelton (1993), used by permission
of P.H. Skelton To my thinking, the Lake Malawi species apparently resembles even more closely the undescribed species seen at right — the diminutive "Chobe sand catlet," currently known as Zaireichthys cf. dorae. Its confirmed range is well to the west of Lake Malawi, and includes the Okavango, Kwando, Chobe, and Upper Zambezi systems (Skelton, 1993).

Lake Malawi's catlet has only been collected from the snail shells. The Z. rotundiceps complex as a whole, however, is distributed from Kenya and Tanzania through Zambia and Zimbabwe to South Africa. In its typical, shallow-water habitat in rivers, Z. rotundiceps itself "[o]ccurs over sand, usually buried with just the eyes protruding. Feeds on minute organisms. Eggs few (12-16) and large (3-5 mm diameter) suggesting possible parental care" (FishBase).

Credits: The top photograph above, by Dr. W. E. Burgess, is reproduced from Burgess (1976c) by permission of T.F.H. Publications, Inc.; special thanks to Dr. Sven Kullander for providing a copy of this article. The same photo also appears in the large T.F.H. book by Konings (1990a: 478). The black & white illustration above, a drawing by Hilda M. Jubb, is from Jubb (1967), and is used by kind permission of Mr. A. T. Balkema of A. A. Balkema Publishers, Rotterdam. Finally, the color painting of the Chobe sand catlet, by Dave Voorvelt, is copyright © by the South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity (formerly known as the J.L.B. Smith Institute of Ichthyology). It is reproduced here from Skelton (1993) with the kind permission of Prof. P.H. Skelton.

The Cichlid Fishes of Lake Malawi, Africa: MalawiCichlids.com